All American: The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe

Beschreibung

Beschreibung

The first major biography in more than a decade of the great Native American athlete Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) is arguably the twentieth centurys greatest athlete, the only man in history to play on a World Series baseball team and on a championship football team as well as winning gold medals in the Olympics. Now, in this fascinating and extensively researched biography, illustrated with rare vintage photographs, biographer Bill Crawford brings Jim Thorpe to life, capturing his great athletic triumphs, his struggle with the prejudices of his time, and his relationship with the legendary Pop Warner, the coach who brought him to international fame only to betray him in what has been termed ' the greatest swindle in sports history.' Bill Crawford (Austin, TX) has written for Texas Monthly and the Austin Chronicle and is the coauthor of Stevie Ray Vaughan: Caught in the Crossfire, among other books.

Portrait

Bill Crawford is a journalist and media producer who has written for Texas Monthly, the Austin Chronicle, and other publications. He is the coauthor of Stevie Ray Vaughan: Caught in the Crossfire and the author or coauthor of several other books.

Pressestimmen

Crawford's terse, punchy biography of sports legend Thorpe (1888-1953) illuminates the current debate over the exploitation of unpaid college athletes by money-making, headline-grabbing educational institutions. Thorpe's own story is familiar: of mixed Caucasian and Native American background, Thorpe was raised on an Oklahoma reservation and was a somewhat obstinate kid before being sent to the Carlisle School, where educators sought to "detach Indians from their native 'savagery.' " Thorpe's awe-inspiring athletic prowess was harnessed for the football team by the school's bullying coach, "Pop" Warner. The young sport, a brutal endeavor still played without guards, was just beginning to catch on when, in 1911, Thorpe led Carlisle to a stunning upset over Harvard. The next year, Thorpe won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympics and was arguably America's most lauded athlete. In 1913, though, true reports that Thorpe had played professional minor-league baseball (violating rules for Olympic amateurs) caused a scandal, marked by racist reporting and Thorpe's betrayal by the well-paid Warner, after which Thorpe was stripped of his medals. Texas journalist Crawford enlivens what is normally treated as a gauzy story of struggle against adversity with a no-nonsense approach, letting the racist attitudes against Thorpe speak for themselves and creating a resonant portrait of a champion in a hostile age. Photos. Agent, Jim Hornfischer. (Nov.) (Publishers Weekly, September 13, 2004)